Downton Abbey devotees beware: you’re not going to like this. And stop reading now if you wish to watch Season 3, debuting on PBS Jan. 6, with innocent eyes.

Dan Stevens, who plays the charming Matthew Crawley on the hugely popular drama series, has not re-signed for Season 4, which begins shooting in Britain in February.

“We were always optioned for three years,” Stevens told the Telegraph. “And when that came up it was a very difficult decision. But it felt like a good time to take stock, to take a moment. From a personal point of view, I wanted a chance to do other things.”

Stevens currently appears on Broadway in The Heiress with Jessica Chastain and David Strathairn. He produced and stars in the indie film Summer inFebruary, about a scandal in an Edwardian-era artists’ colony, that will be released in 2013.

Stevens told the Telegraph that he felt both a sense of liberation and great sadness about leaving Downton Abbey “because I am very, very fond of the show and always will be.”

Season 2 of the costume drama ended with Stevens’ character as not only the heir to Downton but also engaged to Lady Mary (played by Michelle Dockery), eldest daughter of Lord Grantham.

British viewers have already seen Season 3 as well as a DowntonAbbey special that aired on Christmas. The plot of that holiday special explained Matthew Crawley’s exit, according to Deadline Hollywood.

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